DESCRIPTION
The Peshastin Restoration Strategy Sediment Reduction Plan will document existing conditions and location of 135-150 miles of roads in the Upper Peshastin Creek watershed, including 120 miles of National Forest system roads, roads located on Longview Timber, LLC land, County roads and other smaller private parcels. Results of this inventory would identify priority road-related hillslope and tributary restoration actions that would complement on-going restoration actions. The project would integrate the USFS Restoration Strategy currently being developed for the Upper Peshastin watershed with actions on private land to improve water quality and restore natural watershed processes to improve aquatic habitats.
The long-term goal of this project is to gather information which can be used to inform road decommissioning in the Peshastin Creek watershed. Road decommissioning priority actions will create more self-sustaining conditions by reducing the existing road maintenance backlog through informed planning and road maintenance/abandonment activities.
· Reduce sedimentation from poorly maintained roads
· Address the risk of catastrophic impacts caused by road washouts and landslides
· Address road/stream interaction; flow timing and increases to peak flows
· Reduce road density and restore natural hydrology
· Reduce in-stream temperatures thru improved hydrologic function and riparian cover
· Remove or replace culverts that are unstable and/or are barriers to fish passage